When it comes to tech rivalries, everyone loves a good smackdown -- but let's be honest: The race for smartphone dominance is starting to feel like one of those blowout sporting events where there's almost no point in watching.

Already this week, three separate reports have told us that same story. Analysis firm Canalys found Android surged to 44 percent of all U.S. smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2010 -- nearly twice Apple's 26 percent level. RIM, meanwhile, sat at 24 percent and Microsoft trailed in at 3 percent. The NPD Group reached similar conclusions, and Nielsen too released a study showing that Android outsold all other smartphone platforms for the most recent chunk of the year.

Add to that pile now one more zesty little item: ComScore's latest analysis, published this morning, finds Android's overall U.S. smartphone market share grew to 21.4 percent for the three-month period ending in September. That's a 6.5 point increase from its previous position. Apple, in the same time span, held steady at 24.3 percent; RIM continued its perpetual drop by losing 2.8 points and falling to 37.3 percent; and Microsoft lost 2.8 points to reach a total of 10 percent.

It's worth noting that most of the platforms did actually attract new users during this period -- just not enough of 'em to keep up with Android's paces. "Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow," ComScore explains.